During the reign of Emperor Kaihuang of the Great Sui Dynasty, Yang Jian set up Xingtai Province in many places, and Xingtai Shangshu Ling was basically his sons, and later changed to the governor.

Because Xingtai Province is completely a small imperial court, Yang Jian was not at ease when his son was doing Xingtai Shangshu Ling, so he changed it to the governor's office, and then lowered the rank of the subordinate officials of the governor's mansion and reduced his authority.

If the governor is set up in the Bashu region, then it is almost the same as the original Yang Xiu period, and one person has the final say.

But if Xingtai Province is set up, the rights will be greatly diluted, because Shang Shuling is the prince, and the prince will not go to Bashu.

Xingtai left and right servants, plus the six Shangshu of Xingtai, will definitely be a few factions of people with clear forces, and no one will bird anyone, so that it is convenient for the imperial court to manage.

Therefore, after the court meeting, Yang Ming convened people in the East Palace to discuss the official candidates for the southwest road.

Feng Deyi took the lead and said: "The left and right servants need to be two people with different political views, six books, at least two of them must be the prince's people, let's start from these two points, it's easy to choose." ”

That's why Yang Su values Feng Deyi so much, and married his cousin to him, because this person is really powerful.

Li Gang said: "There should be one more, among the left and right servants, there must be one who His Majesty likes, and the position of the Southwest Xingtai Ministry's Shangshu must also be valued by His Majesty." ”

To put it bluntly, Li Gang's suggestion is that among these candidates, there must be someone from the emperor, and they must be in charge of the Ministry of People, because the Ministry of People is in charge of tax collection.

The words were not as straightforward as they were said, but everyone understood that the money had to be stared at by the emperor himself.

Yang Ming agreed:

"Li Gong's words are reasonable, the left servant shoots me with Yang Gongren, after all, he is the secretary of the ministry and the clan, there is no candidate with a higher prestige than him, the right servant shoots this position, I think of a very suitable candidate, Wang Shilong, who replaces Xuan Ting as the general of the right guard."

Wang Shilong was born in the Taiyuan Wang family, and during the opening of the emperor, he was Yang Jian's imperial guard general, and later prepared Yang Guang for a thousand cows, which belonged to an absolute confidant.

This person's father, Wang Shao, belonged to the old faction of the Northern Zhou Dynasty, assisted Yang Guang to go south to destroy Chen, and when Yang Guang served as the Shangshu Commander of the Xingtai in Bingzhou, he was the right servant of the Xingtai, and he was an elder whom Yang Guang respected very much.

Put Wang Shilong, the absolute henchman of the emperor, in the position of the right servant, no one will object, the vacant position he left was taken over by Shi Wanbao, Yang Ming has not arranged Shi Wanbao, just waiting for the military to vacancy.

Yuan Wendu said with a smile: "Your Majesty authorized the prince to take charge of the election of officials, the minister thinks that this is also a consideration, Your Majesty wants to see if the prince can arrange the Southwest Province of Xingtai properly, Wang Shilong is undoubtedly in line with Your Majesty's wishes, this candidate does not need to be discussed." ”

Yang Ming nodded and said: "Then the left servant of the Xingtai is tentatively shot as Yang Gongren, and the right servant of the Xingtai is shot as Wang Shilong, so the candidate for the secretary of the Ministry of Civil Affairs, you will discuss it carefully." ”

This time for Bashu, nominally to eradicate the accumulated shortcomings of Bashu over the years, so that Bashu can be the same as other places, with accessible government decrees and clear government affairs, but in fact, it is to make money.

Therefore, the secretary of the Ministry of Civil Affairs of Taiwan must also be Yang Guang's person, and Yang Guang will keep an eye on this position and will not allow others to get involved.

After discussing and discussing, everyone agreed on a candidate, the emperor's favorite minister, Pei Qiantong.

Pei Qiantong's current position is not high, and his prestige is not good, but he can still be appointed as the secretary of the Ministry of Civil Affairs of Taiwan, this official position sounds very big, but the grade is not high, and it is slightly higher than Yang Ming's Jingzhou Governor's Office.

Adding the word "line" and not adding the line are two very different things.

Then the next position is easy to do,

Yang Ming took Pei Xizai, the manager of the bookstore, as the secretary of the Southwest Road Xingtai Criminal Department, Yan Xiaotang's father Yan Baoshou was transferred to the Ministry of Rites, Shi Wansui's eldest son Shi Huaiyi was transferred to the Ministry of Soldiers, and Chen Xiaoyi was transferred to the Ministry of Officials.

In this list, it can be roughly divided into three factions: the emperor faction, the prince faction, and the Guanwang faction.

Among them, Yang Guang's people include Wang Shilong, Pei Qiantong, and Chen Xiaoyi.

The prince's faction has Pei Xizai and Shi Huaiyi.

Yang Gongren and Yan Baoshou of the Guanwang faction, among which Yan Baoshou is also half of Yang Ming's person.

Yuwen Rutong is left alone, and he is actually considered to be the emperor's faction.

These three factions are all people that the emperor can absolutely rest assured of, and in the final analysis, this set of teams is controlled by the old Yang family's own people.

Therefore, after this list was presented to Yang Guang, Yang Guang did not change a word, and announced the appointment in public at the court meeting the next day.

Yushitai Chen Xiaoyi is a person that Yang Ming likes very much, this person is loyal to the emperor, and he is also a direct minister who dares to admonish, but he is not as full of running trains as Wei Zheng.

Yang Ming believes that Chen Xiaoyi's talent is completely above Wei Zheng, but everyone has their own fate, he served as the county governor of Yanmen County at the end of the Sui Dynasty, knowing that the Great Sui was exhausted, he was still loyal to his duties, and Liu Wuzhou died and was later killed.

Who doesn't like such a loyal minister?

Chen Xiaoyi had long seen that the prince treated him differently from others and had the intention of showing goodwill, so when he heard about his appointment, he knew that it was the prince who recommended him, so he subconsciously looked at Yang Ming.

And Yang Ming also looked at him at this time, and nodded with encouragement in his eyes.

Yang Gongren is about to step down as the secretary of the ministry, this position is top and important, and Yang Guang can't think of a suitable candidate for a while, so he asked Tai Changqing and the subordinate province to accept Niu Hong, and concurrently serve as the secretary of the ministry.

Wearing three positions, Niu Hong's power is already close to Su Wei and Pei Ju.

That is, at today's court meeting, Gao Xi resigned.

Yang Guang's expression at that time was very stunned, and he couldn't come back to his senses for a long time.

Gao Xi resigned, and naturally a group of bigwigs retained, but most of them were scenes, and I really hope that Gao Xi will stay, I'm afraid Yang Ming is alone.

"The minister is old and unbearable, he can't do anything because of his illness, and he has been entrusted by His Majesty, so he resigns and returns to his hometown."

Yang Guang only felt a sudden feeling in his heart, especially remembering the scene of being reprimanded by Gao Xi when he was a teenager, this person is the hero of their family, although Yang Guang has always disliked him, but it cannot be denied that Yang Guang is sincere and respectful to Gao Xi, which is different from Yang Su's hypocrisy and wrongdoing.

After a while, Yang Guang's rare true feelings were revealed, and he sighed:

"I remember that when I was young, the Holy Queen once told an interesting story, saying that there is a willow tree in Dugugong's house, a hundred feet high, if the pavilion is covered, the township is all saying, this house will produce nobles, now look at it, this is true, I have Dugu Gong, such as Zhou De Taigong, Qi has to manage Zhong, although I have the heart to keep, I can't bear to take away the joy of raising the heavens."

Standing in the hall, Gao Xi was full of tears.

In this place at his feet, he has stood for nearly 30 years, gone through countless intrigues and deceits, and now he is finally free.

"Erchen please, restore the title of Duke Dugu to show Your Majesty's favor," Yang Ming knelt down directly.

Yang Guang did not hesitate at all this time:

"Dugu's merits in the open country should be so, from now on, repeat the Duke of Qi, and after a hundred years, his son will be allowed to inherit the title and enjoy the temple court of Emperor Gaozu."

It is equivalent to enjoying the Taimiao, the tablet will be enshrined in Yang Jian's temple court, enjoy the royal sacrifice, and give Gao Shengdao the hereditary qualification, which is really Yang Guang's rare kindness.

Gao Xi was stunned for a moment and looked up at Yang Guang.

Yang Guang nodded at him and said, "Dugu Gong can bear it." ”

This may be the only time that Gao Xi is sincerely grateful to Yang Guang, and it is also the only time that Yang Guang has shown his true feelings to Gao Xi.

After the meeting dispersed, everyone surrounded Gao Xi and said some parting words, after all, many people have worked with Gao Xi for half their lives, and their friendship is still very deep.

Some of the younger generation directly regard Gao Xi as an idol.

Da Sui pays attention to the return of fallen leaves, although Gao Xi and his family followed Dugu Xin in their early years, running around for half the world, but in the last time of their lives, they still have to go back to their hometown.

Gao Xi's hometown is in Bohai County, which is Jing County, Hebei Province.

In the afternoon of the same day, Yang Ming went to Gao Xi's mansion, which was regarded as his final farewell.

Gao Xi was in a good mood, and poured tea for Yang Ming: "Farewell today, I am afraid that there will be no time to see each other again, the old man can step down safely, and he is fortunate to return to his homeland, all of which are protected by the prince, and I dare not forget this kindness, I only hope that my children and grandchildren can be repaid." ”

Gao Xi also knew in his heart that he did not die in the hands of Yang Guang, it all relied on Yang Ming's cover and persuasion from time to time, otherwise he would have been cut to death as a civilian, how could he have today's treatment.

Yang Ming sighed: "Dugu Gong has been away from his hometown for a long time, why do you need to return to his hometown at this time? ”

What he means is, isn't it good for you to die and then go? Do you have to go back alive and die?

Gao Xi said with a smile: "Once a person is old, he only thinks about the grass and trees in his hometown, and the brick and tile of the old house, while he can still walk now, the old man wants to go back and take a look, Your Majesty will use troops against Goguryeo sooner or later, and I will collect frontier information for the prince in my homeland, so that I can succeed in one fell swoop in the future." ”

As the first person of the Bohai Gao clan today, Gao Xi's prestige in Hebei is very high, and the three major families have to give face.

The family is no longer in the center, but there is still a Duke of Qi on his head, and he still has the lofty prestige accumulated in the past thirty years.

He was the first powerful minister during the opening of the Great Sui Dynasty, the first contribution to the founding of the country, and if the emperor didn't do it, no one would dare to provoke him.

Yang Ming nodded: "Dugu Gong cherishes all the way, I hope we can have a goodbye period." ”

Gao Xi said with a smile: "The old man will not say goodbye to His Royal Highness before leaving, and in the future, we will be separated from each other, and we will send each other thoughts from afar." ”

Soon after, Yang Ming got up to say goodbye.

And Gao Xi will go to see Yang Lihua next, which can barely be regarded as a farewell between master and servant, but this time, Yang Lihua did not regard herself as the master, but as a gift from the juniors, and finally personally sent Gao Xi out of the house.

Looking at the figure that was originally tall but now slightly rickety, Yang Lihua covered her sleeves and cried.

Five days later, countless officials and people took the initiative to go out of the city to see off Gao Xi at Chang'an Station, and Yang Lihua was also present.

Five carriages, dozens of retinues, this is Gao Xi's last outfit.

The young man who left home and returned to his hometown, a wanderer who had been away from his hometown for more than 60 years, embarked on the road home, and the achievements of Gao Xi's life will not be erased by any history books, and he is destined to go down in history.

The two important ministers of Yang Jian's era, Gao Xi and Yang Su, came to a complete end.

Gao Xi also drew the final end to the reign of the emperor

(End of chapter)